Review - Etihad Airways Business Class A350-1000 Toronto Pearson to Abu Dhabi

EY22 YYZ-AUH

April 8th, 2025

In-transit:

Oops, I did it again. I flew with Etihad and was once more disappointed. I needed to go to the UAE last minute, and Etihad happened to have wide open availability in business class on the Toronto flight. At the price of 70,000 AAdvantage miles, I figured it was worth the shot. While I didn’t much care for my first class flight with Etihad last year from New York, the Toronto flight was operated by its A350-1000 featuring the newest seats. I reckoned in the worst case scenario, it would make for a useful review.

Flying through Toronto Pearson was also, uhm… how do I put it politely..? An unpleasant experience? Canada just isn’t what it used to be. I’ll leave it at that.

Since I already checked in online and got my boarding pass, I didn’t stop by the check-in counters.

Lounge:

Etihad sent its business class passengers to the Plaza Premium Lounge, which I’ve reviewed before here. I stayed in a separate section of the lounge during my last visit, because that’s what British Airways reserved for its first class passengers. That area was occupied by Cathay Pacific this time around, but for its business class passengers. Etihad business class passengers unfortunately had to sit in the main lounge with everyone else who accessed through Priority Pass. I left the lounge immediately after being told by the bartender that sparkling water would be an extra charge. It sure seems to me that Etihad is committed to offering the lousiest lounge experience imaginable for any airline with a shred of dignity.

Boarding:

It should surprise no one that an Etihad flight departing Toronto would break the Guinness World Record for the most wheelchairs on any flight. Oh, and half of the train had already left the station.

Etihad’s A350-1000 had a simple two-cabin layout, with 44 business class seats and 327 economy class seats.

Etihad Airways A350-1000 Business Class Cabin

My first impression of the cabin was quite favorable. These seats were an evolution of the common Collins Super Diamond seats, with an added door for privacy. I think these were identical to the new British Airways Club Suites.

Etihad Airways A350-1000 Business Class Seat

I thought the design was tasteful, in particular the understated gold accents, which ran contrast to the full-on gold bling on Emirates.

Unlike most other airlines with A350s, Etihad elected not to install exterior cameras, which sure is a shame.

As you can see, these were pretty standard reverse herringbone seats. However, privacy was much enhanced with the doors and higher seat shells.

Awaiting at the seat were all the comfort items, including an amenity kit, bedding, slippers and pajamas. The pajamas were a recent introduction in business class on Etihad as of earlier this year.

Etihad Airways Business Class Amenities YYZ-AUH

A pair of unbranded headphones was also at the seat.

Etihad Airways Business Class Headphones YYZ-AUH

I found it a bit odd that the pajamas were already placed at each seat. Like, how would they know the size of each passenger? Mine was way too big, but I didn’t bother to exchange for the right size.

I quickly visited the lavatory to change into the pajamas ahead our 12.5-hour flight. The lavatory was basic.

Etihad Airways A350-1000 Business Class Lavatory

Here comes one of my biggest issues with this flight. The business class cabin was only equipped with two lavatories, which were shared by the pilots, the cabin crew and 44 passengers! It had to be one of the most pathetic lavatory-to-passenger ratio in business class. What were they thinking??? There were two additional lavatories located behind the business class cabin, but economy passengers used those as well, so expect a long wait every time you need to use the lavatory.

While on most airlines you would be greeted by cabin crew shortly after settling down, it wasn’t for a good 15 minutes until a crew member came by to offer a pre-departure beverage. And I could immediately tell service was going to be as mid as a 5’9 back office NYC finance bro. They just, like, weren’t happy to be there.

Etihad Airways Business Class Pre-departure Drink YYZ-AUH

Hot towels were handed out moments later.

Etihad Airways Business Class Hot Towel YYZ-AUH

I perused the menu whilst on the ground, which was definitely not intending to wow anyone. I’d also like to mention most of the wines were priced in the mid-teens, just to give you an example of where Etihad positioned itself in the market. The menu and wine list read as follows.

We pushed back 10 minutes ahead of schedule and taxied past a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) B777-200LR, which you don’t see in the US. PIA currently doesn’t have FAA category 1 status, prohibiting it from flying to the US.

Inflight:

We had a brief taxi to the runway and rotated off towards Lake Ontario.

From there, it wasn’t for another 90 minutes until I received my meal, served on a tray. When the FA was taking orders on the ground, she never asked if I wanted an apéritif. While I did order champagne, I was under the impression that it would be served with some nuts before the meal. Look, I get that the cabin was full, but 90 minutes just seemed aggressive to be served something on a tray. I thought about pressing the call button just to get a drink.

Etihad Airways Business Class Dinner Appetizer YYZ-AUH

For appetizer, I selected the herb-marinated prawns with gem lettuce, avocado, espelette pepper, wasabi cream and teriyaki sauce. I didn’t realize this when I ordered it, but it was the exact same starter I had in Etihad first class last year. Even the presentation was similar, albeit on a smaller plate… It was tasty, though. Another bizarre thing to note was that Etihad only provided one set of cutleries. When the flight attendant cleared my starter, she placed my cutleries right back on my table. Even American Airlines offered two sets of cutleries, so you could use one for appetizer and one for main course…

The main course was a different story, unfortunately. The Chilean seabass was downright revolting. It was probably the nastiest thing I was ever served on an airplane, and I’ve been on Ryanair and Spirit…

Etihad Airways Business Class Dinner Main Course YYZ-AUH

I asked the flight attendant if they could swap my fish for another main course. They tried to dissuade me by saying it would take at least another 35 minutes. Etihad really needs to sort out its service culture. I’m not sure if the morale is low at Etihad, you know, since it can’t be fun living under the shadows of Emirates and Qatar, or if Etihad simply does a phenomenal job of sourcing the laziest workers around the globe. You know how hard Qatar cabin crew have to work throughout the flight? When I asked for a refill of sparkling water during dinner (my first time asking), the flight attendant said “you know what I’ll bring you the bottle.”. Alrighty…

Much to my surprise, my substitute main course was served merely 15 minutes after requesting it. Ain’t that a victory? They ran out of both the chicken and the beef, so I was left with the paneer vegetarian option. The bread was drier than the soles of Gandhi’s shoes.

For dessert, I got the apple cinnamon tartlet. It was good enough, although the plating (or lack thereof) left a bit to be desired.

Etihad Airways Business Class Dinner Dessert YYZ-AUH

Post an eternity of waiting around for some of the worst catering I’ve ever had, I made my bed for some rest. What did you say? Turndown service? Girl be for real.

The lumbar pillow was essentially a zipped-up pouch that unfolded into a mattress sheet. Disappointingly, a huge gap existed between the cushions in lie-flat mode, so it was rather uncomfortable near the bum area.

I watched a couple episodes of the latest season of Industry. I watched an episode of season 1 years ago and could not stomach the cringe, but the new season was kinda good? Maybe Lena Dunham isn’t the producer anymore, lol. Btw, it occurred to me that Yasmin was played by the same actress that played Amy Winehouse in Back to Black.

On Arrival:

We were flying eastbound, which, thankfully, meant our flight time was a tad shorter. After dinner, I had no further interest in consuming anything else on this flight, so I skipped breakfast. I think the hard product is not bad on Etihad. However, service remains a detractor of the whole experience. I’ve discussed that in great depth, so I won’t rehash it here. I do want to add one more anecdote, though. The cabin lights were dimmed after dinner service, as people readied themselves for bed. My seat was sandwiched between two friends that were traveling to Bhutan to “conquer the Himalayas” (their words not mine). They also said Bhutan wouldn’t be the same after their visit, whatever tf that means. How did I know? Cause they kept yapping nonstop from the moment they boarded the plane to when I basically had to tell them to shut tf up. At first, I thought they were some YouTubers, as they were vlogging each other and making small interviews on their phones. I mean, who else would be oh-so-desperate for content or attention that they wore a Gucci buckle belt with matching Gucci sneakers. Spoiler alert - it turned out they were just inconsiderate boomers. Then they started chatting away in the aisle and laughing without a care in the world. I got up from my seat and asked them if one of them would like to switch seats with me, so that other people wouldn’t be disturbed. They were aware enough to wrap up their conversation and shuffled back to their seats. This brought me to another thought - are Etihad flight attendant jaded because this is the type of clientele that they often face? Hmm, one can’t help but wonder…

Review - Etihad Airways Business Class A350-1000 Toronto Pearson to Abu Dhabi

EY22 YYZ-AUH

April 8th, 2025

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